White God: Every Dog Has Its Day

As both real-world director Werner Herzog and fictional exterminator Tommy Saxondale have warned, anthropomorphism—ascribing human thoughts and motivations to animals—is a seductive logical fallacy. A bit of caution is therefore incumbent when considering White God, the Un Certain Regard-winning feature from Hungarian writer-director Kornél Mundruczó. Chronicling the harrowing journey of mixed-breed dog Hagen (canine actors Luke and Body), White God asks that the viewer accept some distinctly human-like behaviors from an animal.

Hagen is the companion of 13-year-old Lili (Zsófia Psotta), who, at the film’s opening, is foisted onto the father (Sándor Zsótér) she barely knows. The man has no love for dogs, and in due course he cruelly abandons Hagen on the side of the road. Thereafter, White God follows Hagen and Lilli’s tribulations in parallel. The dog evades an animal control crew only to fall into the clutches of a dog-fighter, at which point things take a turn for the vicious. Lilli, meanwhile, goes into a tailspin following the loss of her pet, skipping school to post lost dog fliers and ingratiating herself with an older boy who reeks of bad judgment.

Mundruczó and cinematographer Marcell Rév render this tale handsomely, capturing both the centuries-old splendor and ex-Eastern Bloc grubbiness of the film’s Hungarian locations. Appropriately, the film’s tone blends social realism with a blood-soaked fairy tale. This admixture proves somewhat discordant at times, but in the main it makes for a novel and provocative experience. White God is on its shakiest ground in the third act, when Hagen leads several hundred dogs in a prison escape and subsequent rampage through the city. Although it produces some glorious visuals, the sheer Day of the Animals silliness of this roving canine mob undermines the film’s worthy ambitions for a tough-minded consideration of human-animal bonds (and their limits).

White God opens Friday, April 10 at the Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar, 314-727-7271.